Superconducting Microsphere Magnetically Levitated in an Anharmonic Potential with Integrated Magnetic Readout

Abstract

Magnetically levitated superconducting microparticles offer a promising path to quantum experiments with picogram to microgram objects. In this work, we levitate a 700 ng∼1017amu superconducting microsphere in a magnetic chip trap in which detection is integrated. We measure the center-of-mass motion of the particle using a dc superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. The trap frequencies are continuously tunable between 30 and 160 Hz and the particle remains stably trapped over days in a dilution-refrigerator environment. We characterize the motional-amplitude-dependent frequency shifts, which arise from trap anharmonicities, namely, Duffing nonlinearities and mode couplings. We explain this nonlinear behavior using finite-element modeling of the chip-based trap potential. This work may constitute a first step toward quantum experiments and ultrasensitive inertial sensors with magnetically levitated superconducting microparticles.